Theme Of Patriarchalism In Lee Maracle's Ravensong

Ravensong, a novel by Lee Maracle, introduces two very different cultures and the prevalence of western culture and superiority. Within white town, women were characterized as inferior to men and had little to no say with regards to both private and public spheres. This was evident as Stacy visits her only friend at school, Carol. When Stacy goes to Carol’s house for dinner she is appalled by her father’s treatment of her mother. She watches them carefully as Mr. S is giving Mrs. S violent looks as a result of the fact that she spoke of a couple getting a divorce in front of their children. The white town in Lee Maracle’s novel is the epitome of patriarchalism as the mother is enforced to comply with all of the father’s demands. Contrastingly, …show more content…
When Carol informs Stacy that her parents are getting a divorce, she is horrified, yet Stacy is very indifferent towards the situation. Instead of feeling the typical judgmental and sympathetic emotions a person from white town would feel, Stacy states that she is trying her best to hold back her laughter. Coming from an indigenous culture, Stacy does not interpret divorce as the horrifying event Carol sees it as. The separation between married couples is not accepted in this white supremacist society and thus, she is ashamed of her parent’s actions and attempts to receive advice from Stacy. The conflicts between the cultures arise as the white supremacist culture attempts to assimilate the indigenous people into their ways of living. Hatred between the societies increased as the novel goes on because the villagers were being harassed as a result of their identity and whites watched indifferently as the aboriginals suffered through a deadly epidemic. In addition, another example of sexist gender roles within the novel is when Snake, a white man, abuses his indigenous wife,